The Missouri House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a new congressional map championed by former President Donald Trump and state Republican leaders, advancing a plan that would redraw the state's eight U.S. House districts in a manner that favors the GOP.
Lawmakers backed the so-called "Missouri First Map" in a 90-65 vote, with a handful of Republican members crossing party lines in opposition. Supporters say the map strengthens Republican prospects across the state; critics say it is an unprecedented mid-decade effort to entrench one party's advantage. The measure now moves to the GOP-controlled Missouri Senate, which Republican leaders said could take it up as early as Wednesday.
Under the proposed map, Kansas City would be divided into three districts drawn to be more favorable to Republican candidates, a change that could make it more difficult for the city's current Democratic congressman, Emanuel Cleaver, to retain his seat in the 2026 midterm elections. The map would give Republicans an advantage in seven of the state's eight congressional districts, according to lawmakers who sponsored the plan.
Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session on redistricting last month after Texas Republican legislators passed a contested redistricting plan that could add multiple GOP-leaning seats to the U.S. House. Kehoe said on X that the Missouri plan and other reforms "now head to the Missouri Senate," and he thanked the bill sponsors, Representative Dirk Deaton and Representative Ed Lewis, for their leadership.
Former President Trump posted praise for the Missouri House's action on Truth Social, calling the vote "overwhelming" and the map "much fairer, and improved." He wrote that it was his "great honor" to have won Missouri in past elections and said the new lines would give Missourians the opportunity to elect "an additional MAGA Republican in the 2026 Midterm Elections."
Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver sharply criticized the mid-decade redistricting effort, calling it an "unprecedented directive" and an "unconstitutional attack" on democracy. In a statement, Cleaver said the plan would "silence voices" and deny representation by predetermining electoral outcomes rather than allowing voters to decide.
The authorization of a mid-decade redrawing of congressional lines follows an intensifying national effort by both parties to reshape maps ahead of the 2026 elections. Republican-led redistricting in Texas and a separate Democratic effort in California to redraw seats in response were cited by Missouri Republicans as part of the rationale for acting now. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have framed the moves as either necessary corrections or as partisan responses to rival states' actions.
If approved by the Missouri Senate, the plan would be enacted as state law. The new maps would be in place for the next federal elections in Missouri unless overturned or altered by judicial action or subsequent legislation. Republican leaders in the state emphasized the importance of the proposal for reinforcing GOP representation, while Democrats vowed to challenge the plan and to continue calling attention to what they described as a partisan gerrymander.
